Far From Home
by carpetinflight
Summary: Teyla and Carson become friends as she adjusts to life in the City of the Ancestors.


Teyla first met Carson following the culling of Athos, her capture by the Wraith and subsequent escape. In her experience, people did not go into a hive ship and come back, but she was alive and untouched. Exhausted, aching, quivering from residual fear but _alive_. And then her homeworld was abandoned, they were in the City of the Ancestors, and the Wraith were waking. She was evaluating new allies and protecting her people and comforting the grieving. It was almost too much to take in.

She'd fully expected to die screaming in the hive ship, and the run out of that place had left her head spinning. The people of Earth held a firm belief that they could all grit their teeth and _get through this alive_, where 'this' meant 'capture by the Wraith.' Somehow, the belief seemed to actually make such an impossible thing true.

After so many new and unknown things happening, it was the normal and mundane event that was nearly her undoing, when they arrived in the City and were immediately bustled off to see the Healer. She'd woken that morning surrounded by Wraith, and now this Doctor Beckett was smiling and asking if she was _healthy_?

"I am alive, Doctor," she said. "It is enough, for today."

"Indeed it is, lass," he replied. His examination was nonetheless thorough.

----------

The rest of the city was dark and most of its new inhabitants were sleeping when Teyla saw a light burning in the Medical offices. Unsure of her welcome, she hesitated outside the door for a moment. The faint aroma of Athosian tea made up her mind, though. She crossed to the inner office door and knocked softly.

"Doctor Beckett?" she asked.

"Ah, Teyla," he said, looking up from his computer with a weary smile. "What a pleasant surprise -- come in, come in." He bustled around, making room for her in one of the odd chairs the Ancestors left behind, and pouring her a cup of the warm, familiar tea. "And please," he said. "Call me Carson."

His voice had a sweet lilt that the others of his world did not, and she smiled to hear it, nodding her head in agreement and thanking him for the tea. "You asked for stories of sickness among our people. If you are not busy, I would be happy to share them with you now... Carson."

"That would be wonderful," he said, with a broad smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. He produced a small device and set it on the desk between them. "D'you mind if I record the conversation?" he asked. When she shook her head, he pressed a button on the device, and recited the day and time before turning to her. "Now then, you state your name and home world for the record, and then I'd love to hear about these diseases."

"I am Teyla Emmagen, Daughter of Tagan, of Athos," she said to the little box, thinking as she did of the fields and forests of her home, and wondering when she would return there. She cradled the mug in both her hands, feeling its warmth soak into her palms, and took a sip of tea to cover her emotion.

She had done this before, in the course of trading. Many worlds valued herb lore or folktales, and she'd spent hours recounting the old stories of her home world. But in the past, she'd always been able to return to that world at the end of the journey.

He seemed to understand, because he smiled encouragingly and said, "Can you tell me about Athos? About your childhood there?"

Meeting his blue eyes, she took a deep breath and began to speak.

----------

Teyla's radio crackled to life in the midst of a briefing, and she heard Halling's voice. "Teyla, it is time. You will bring the doctor?"

Meeting Carson's eyes across the room, she pressed the small button and replied. "We will be there soon."

"Doctor Weir, I am sorry for the--" _interruption_, she started to say, rushing to apologize for disrupting the meeting.

Instead of irritation, though, her words were met with a broad smile. "Teyla, Carson-- _go_."

"Thank you, Doctor Weir-- Elizabeth," Teyla said, the unfamiliar sounds still awkward on her tongue. Together, she and Carson hurried toward the jumper bay, stopping only to retrieve an already-packed bag of supplies from the infirmary.

The trip to the mainland was tense and quiet, with Carson concentrating hard on the controls. Teyla's stomach fluttered uncomfortably, and she knew it was from nerves as much as the bumpy flight. This was a portentous event for her people, and she was not there. If something were to go wrong--

Teyla remembered Ama as a young girl, playing at house and picking wildflowers. To think of her now becoming a mother, adding another voice to the choir of their people, made Teyla feel old and brittle.

The jumper set down with a jolt, and they hurried out. Teyla led the way to a tent near the center of the village, with Carson only a step behind. Just as they reached the tent, they heard a loud wail, muffled by the thick canvas walls.

Inside, Ama was laying back on the bed under a layer of blankets, looking exhausted but happy, while the village's midwife held a tiny cloth-wrapped bundle. The child was red-faced, her head still misshapen from the birth, and she was screaming violently in the midwife's arms.

Teyla swallowed her own disappointment. It was selfish of her, she knew, but she had wanted to be there for the birth, the first for her people on this new world. She stood awkwardly near the side of the tent, feeling utterly useless and out of place.

Carson went immediately to examine the baby, his doctor's persona completely in place. "Well, her lungs are certainly healthy," he said, beaming. He pulled aside the blankets and peered down at the infant. "Ten fingers and ten toes," he said. After a few more moments of examination, he turned to the new mother. "I'll want to do a complete examination later, but it looks as though you have a beautiful, healthy daughter."

Pulling on a pair of thin gloves, Carson went on to examine Ama and dole out advice in his efficient, capable way. Teyla helped where she could, carrying supplied from the jumper and making tea, but she was quiet and subdued as she did so.

Carson must have noticed, for as they walked back to the jumper, he asked quietly, "Is everything all right, lass?"

"Mother and child are well," Teyla answered. "That is what matters."

Carson nodded silently and waited for her to continue. She let the silence lengthen for a moment before continuing. "I am sorry that we did not arrive sooner," she said finally, still not answering his question.

"Your people have been doing this for ages without a doctor," Carson said, sounding pleased. "They didn't need me for a thing."

Teyla looked at the unfamiliar trees and grasses in the place that was now her home, and said nothing.

"Oh, lass," Carson said. After a moment, she felt his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to say -- that is…"

Teyla's eyes stung and she took a deep breath, blinking furiously. Carson patted her shoulder awkwardly before withdrawing his hand.

"They're doing beautifully here," he said. "You should be quite proud."

The soft white tents stretched out across the meadow in an ordered grid, and Teyla could hear the shouts of children at play. "I am," she said. "I am very proud." She blinked back another tear.


End file.
